Arts for Everyone

February 11, 1997

Elite is out, outreach is in. The latest example - appropriately, for role model purposes - is from the nation's capital. That crystal jewel box on the Potomac, the Kennedy Center, will soon offer a free musical or theatrical performance every night at 6. One source of talent will be Congress members' nominations of performers from back home.

"Pay what you can" concerts are also part of a new "Performing Arts for Everyone" program. Such ventures - seen elsewhere on a smaller scale - are prudent when arts funders want to know their money serves more than a favored few. But outreach is good in itself, in line with Founding Father John Adams's famous hopes for study of arts as a right for future generations.